Both Martin and Outzen have struggled to gain respect this season. But barring injury, one of them will walk off the Sun Devil Stadium field Monday night as the quarterback of a national champion. The top-ranked Volunteers meet No. 2 Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl.

"Both players are undefeated as starters in college," Bowden said. "There are a lot of similarities."

True enough: Martin is 12-0 and Outzen is 2-0. But their paths to college football's brightest stage couldn't have been more different.

Martin was born to a 16-year-old single mother and grew up in a dangerous section of Mobile, Ala. By his count, Martin has watched at least a dozen friends die from shootings, accidents or illness.

On one occasion, Martin went into his house while a friend, Gary Simmons, and Simmons' infant child waited on the sidewalk. Hearing gunshots a moment later, Martin raced outside to find his friend lying in the street. Both Simmons and the baby had been shot. Only the child survived.

"I can put everything in perspective now," Martin said. "I see football as a game. Being in the situations I was I growing up really taught me to be calm under tough situations. You can't panic if things are going bad."

If wins and losses are the final measurement of a quarterback, then things never really went bad for Martin, who started all 12 Tennessee victories. But Tennessee fans are demanding, and in the eyes of many Martin's worst crime was that he didn't possess the flashy skills of Manning, who left Knoxville as the most decorated quarterback in school history.

But Manning never won a national title--a fact that some of Martin's teammates stressed last week.

"With all the things (Martin) has accomplished, he has to be the top quarterback ever to come through Tennessee," Wilson said. "Not statistically. Just all of the things he's accomplished. He beat Florida, won another SEC championship, and now we're here playing for the national championship.

"Name another quarterback who's done that for this team. Peyton, he always wanted the big play. But it cost us a lot. He threw a lot of interceptions in situations where we didn't need it. Tee will throw the ball away to save an interception."

But Martin, 20, doesn't waste many throws. Against South Carolina, he completed 23 of 24 passes for 315 yards and four touchdowns. He has thrown only two interceptions in his last seven games.

Martin knew since last spring that he would be under the microscope. But Outzen couldn't have dreamed he would be starting in the game that could bring FSU its second national title of this decade.

Outzen had drawn recruiters' notice by leading Ft. Walton Beach High School to the state title; it's the same high school that produced Danny Wuerffel, who went on to win a Heisman Trophy at Florida.

But Outzen found himself mired deep on the depth chart, and after last season he told Bowden he was considering transferring.

Bowden asked Outzen to wait until after spring drills. That's when highly recruited Dan Kendra suffered a knee injury that would end his season. Outzen, a redshirt sophomore, moved up to No. 2, behind starter Chris Weinke. He found himself starting when Weinke sustained a season-ending neck injury against Virginia.

Outzen directed FSU to 24 straight points and a 45-14 victory over the Cavaliers. Then he led the Seminoles to a 24-7 victory at lowly Wake Forest.

But the real test came in the regular-season finale against archrival Florida in Tallahassee. At halftime, the Seminoles trailed 12-6. Outzen appeared tentative in the face of a fierce Gators pass rush.

"What's going through my mind is, `Gee, I'm not sure he's going to be good enough to win this game,' " Bowden said.

But Outzen caught a huge break on FSU's first possession after intermission when he fired a ball into the left flat. A Gators defender appeared ready to pluck the pass and run it down the sidelines for a touchdown. But the ball deflected off his hands and into the arms of FSU's Peter Warrick, who snaked 32 yards for what turned out to be the decisive score.